The "Wearable Souvenirs" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Putting my t-shirts away after sorting them by island.  I have multiple t-shirts from quite a few islands that Carol and I have visited in the past twenty years, but the majority of them have been purchased on the island known as St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  The St. Martin side of the island is French while the Sint Maarten side is Dutch.  I have half-a-dozen shirts from each side of the island and a few have sayings or themes scene-printed on them.  

The top t-shirt came from "The Last
Mango In Paradise Store." It is slightly
faded since I wear it all the time.

Years ago one of our favorite stores on the Dutch side of the island was on Front Street in Philipsburg.  Place was called "The Last Mango In Paradise" and I bought some of the neatest t-shirts there.  One of my favorite t-shirts had the saying "Live, Love, Laugh, St. Martin" on it.   In front of the store stood a large plastic alligator that my wife posed in front of one time for a photo.  They also had a store at the airport, but then one year they closed their doors.  Another favorite place to buy my t-shirts was at the Marigot market.  Small stand is called Secret Spot and features designs by the owner that were then silk-screened on the island.  

A variety of designs from The Secret Spot t-shirt store.

I have at least half-a-dozen from that stand.  Even posted a story a few years ago about the stand.  Last year during our visit to St. Martin I purchased a t-shirt at a small store in Orient Village that had silk-screened on it: One Love, One Life, One Island, St. Martin FWI (FWI refers to French West Indies).  

Karine's new store at the Hope Estates Shopping Center.

Well, this year we noticed that the store was no longer in Orient Village, having been replaced by a new restaurant.  Then one day while shopping at the Hope Estates Shopping Center we once again found the "One Love" store.  It was much larger, carried more inventory but still had many items with the logo "One Love, One Life, One Island, St. Martin FWI.  As we walked in the store Carol immediately pointed out a pillow case that she just had to have.  It now sits on our sofa in the family room and is drawing many favorable comments.  

My t-shirt and Carol's throw pillow from Karine's store.

The owner of the shop is Karine Doumenjou who came to the island when she was 16 years old and heard the Bob Marley song "One Love" over and over again.  She used that slogan along with "One Life", since we only have one life to live and added "One Island" since she always came back to St. Martin.  Karine had always dreamed of selling clothes and having her own logo is a dream come true.  The new shop allows her to reach out to more tourists since it has a better location that is more visible.  The variety of goods she now has will definitely increase her sales.  Her long term goal is to open a concept store to work with local artists and aim for rather high-quality products.  I'm sure we will visit her store on our next visit and add something new to our collection.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.